A/N: Hello loverlies! So, I know it's been a while. So, so, so sorry. I had a rough couple of weeks. Back now though and this chapter is the longest yet! Woot woot!

I had always hated parties. My mother used to throw them for me every year, and I had to invite every kid from my class. They always ended up too big and too loud. I preferred to stay home and have a nice quiet night.

So imagine how I felt when I opened the door to a loud chorus of "Surprise!"

I almost died of embarrassment.

After I got past the shock though, it wasn't all bad. The house was full but not overflowing. Jasper and Emmett made a point of introducing me to anyone I didn't know. Evidently Alistair was a bit of a punk rocker and dyed his hair blue once, Felix had two kids but wasn't with their mothers, and Dimitri was apparently a very talented masseur. I was pretty certain my roommates were trying to set me up.

Charlotte of course wanted to know how it was living with the boys. I told her it was great and made sure not to mention Edward's and my rocky start.

It felt like hours before I was able to relax which was why I didn't like parties. I was a wallflower. I didn't want to be the center of attention. Falling onto the couch between Emmett and Jasper was as close as it was going to get to disappearing.

"Where's Rosie?" Emmett asked.

I shrugged. "Not quite sure. You know she hates that name right?"

"Yeah, she told me. It's just too perfect for her." The constant amusement that I expected was still in his eyes, but there was something new as well. Something quiet, gentle, and filled with longing. Was Emmett falling for Rosalie? "Besides, Rosalie is a mouthful and Rose is just too common."

I grinned. Emmett wouldn't be the first one to fall for Rosalie's good looks. I kinda wanted him to get to know Rosalie just to see if he could handle her. He would be the first of her boyfriends I had liked. "Well, then maybe you should go find her. She could probably use some help keeping away from Mike. He doesn't know how to take a no."

Mike was a friend of mine. We met a coffee bar. He was a spoken word artist who specialized in erotic art. Rose thought he was creepy. I thought he was amusing.

"Okay, I've been wondering, who is that?" I subtly nodded toward the kitchen where there was short, dark haired woman. I'd noticed her earlier but didn't recognize her. She seemed to stay pretty close to Edward, and I had noticed Emmett and Jasper go out of their way avoid her. That annoyed me. It seemed a little rude.

"Oh, that's Alice," Jasper muttered.

"Alice? Edward's ex-girlfriend Alice?"

"Yeah. More like on-again, off-again." Emmett rolled his eyes. "Don't know what he sees in her."

"What? She seems nice." She had smiled most of the night, although she still looked a little sad. Like she didn't quite belong. I could empathize with that.

"Yeah, she's nice enough." Jasper's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "But she's crazy."

"Oh, come on, she can't be that bad."

"B, she's crazy." I was a little uncomfortable with how gossipy this had gotten, but that didn't stop me from hanging on every word Emmett said. "She thinks she can see the future, and I'm not even kidding. She says she has dreams and they happen. I don't understand why Edward keeps going back to her."

"They've know each other since college, and they've been through a lot. It makes sense." Jasper defended Edward, but I could still hear the edge of uncertainty in his voice. "Honestly, just leave her be. Trust us."

I rolled my eyes. I loved the two of them like brothers, but they were being rude and a little petty. Alice couldn't have been that crazy. Besides she wouldn't be any crazier than some of my other friends. "Well, it's my party, and I'm going to say hi."

I elbowed Emmett before I stood up. "Rosalie is over there and she looks bored. It's never good when Rosalie is bored."

I went to meet Alice if for no other reason than no one else was being nice to her. It was my party, and no one was going to feel unwanted at my party.

Edward grinned at me when I made it across the room. I didn't quite understand why my stomach fluttered at the sight. I wasn't going to think about it.

"Hey, so do you like it?" he asked, his cheeks turning a light pink. It was adorable.

"It's great. Took me a little while to get used to it, but yeah, it's not so bad. I can't believe you and the guys managed to get all this done."

"Oh, well, it wasn't us. Um." His green eyes darted to the side before he grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I almost jumped when I felt fingers wrap around my elbow but managed to keep my composure. What the hell was wrong with me?

I was easily distracted but Edward didn't seem to notice. "Bella, this is Alice. She did most of the planning and gave me the idea in the first place. Alice, meet Bella."

Alice smiled, but I didn't miss the dark bags under her eyes. She looked bone weary. I wanted to hug her, offer her a cup of Sleepytime tea, and tuck her into bed. I had to hand it to her though; she was still standing there, with a real smile on her face. She had some back bone.

"Oh, so you're the new girl."

"Um, new girl?"

"Um, yeah, that's my fault." Edward gave me a sheepish grin. "I, uh, didn't use your name for a long time. It kinda stuck. Sorry."

"No, it's fine." I'd never had a nickname before. Besides I knew Edward didn't mind me now. It was sweet in a way. "So, what do you do, Alice?"

"Oh, um." She looked a little surprised that I had asked her. "I work at a daycare."

"Awesome. What ages?"

"Twos and threes."

Alice proved to be a wonderful conversationalist. We spent about twenty minutes talking about kids, teaching techniques, and everything in between. She was smart, funny, and seemed to really care. I didn't know what the guys were talking about. She wasn't stupid; she wasn't an idiot. Some of her mannerisms were a little odd for sure but they weren't so bad that you couldn't get look past it.

One of the things I did notice was her alcohol intake. I felt a little sorry for Edward since the later it got, the more she drank, and the harder it was to keep her from doing something stupid.

Much later in the night, just as I was starting to loosen up, Rose dragged me onto the improvised dance floor in the middle of our living room. I hated dancing. I had no rhythm, and I looked a seal on land, but I was enjoying myself. Besides which, next to Rosalie no one was going to be looking at me.

The funky opening beat to Macklemore's Thrift Shop played and Rosalie groaned and giggled. She had a love/hate relationship with Thrift Shop. I personally loved it. It made me laugh and personified my own unique style.

Apparently I wasn't the only one. Alice squealed and ran from where she and Edward had been by the drinks to the dance floor. There she began dancing, if that was what you could call it. Every move was over-exaggerated. Her arms and legs seemed to go everywhere. I noticed some people staring and snickering, but she didn't seem to notice. She just kept doing her thing.

I caught a glimpse of Edward. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. His lips were turned down in a frown, but the edges where threatening to turn up in a begrudging smile. It was cute look on his normally dower face, but I still felt my heart skip a beat. Something was fixing to go wrong.

I had one guess.

I got proved right just moments later.

Alice pulled her jacket off first followed by her shoes. Couldn't really blame her for those. It was when she pulled her shirt off leaving just an admittedly cute bright green bra that things got a little awkward. I mean, no one expected someone to strip at my surprise party. Alice didn't even seem to notice what she was doing.

It was when I caught several people pointing and laughing that I decided to do something. So Alice was stripping, big deal. That didn't mean that you had to make fun of her. Objectively, she was kinda cute. If I had swung that way, I probably would have hit on her.

Regardless, I wanted to get the attention off of her so I did the first thing that came to mind. I moved next to her and pulled my own shirt off. I purposely ignored our audience and shimmied and shook with Alice. After we loosened up, everyone started cheering us on. Who doesn't like dancing topless women? To be strictly honest it was kinda fun. Awkward, but fun.

Yes that's right, I stripped at my own surprise party. And I liked it.

Muchos, muchos love to my Kris. She's a rock star and everything. Also to songster and barburella.

Kris's random A/N: Hey cats and kittens. Random question here. Are any of you interested in prereading for a Charlie/Alice angsty multi-chap? My pre-readers are understandably a bit nauseous at the idea. Let me know! Kisses!